At the start of the 2020/21 season, Märki took over the artistic direction of the Staatstheater Cottbus as artistic and opera director. The Staatstheater is the only multi-genre theater in the state of Brandenburg. With its artistic productions in the fields of musical theater, drama, ballet and concerts, it is also recognized beyond the region.

Born in Bern in 1955, Stephan Märki became director of the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam in 1993. In 2000, he moved to the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle (DNT) in Weimar as General Director. In 2011 and 2012, he merged the Bern Symphony Orchestra and the Stadttheater Bern to form the four-genre Konzert Theater Bern. In 2012, he took over the management of the Konzert Theater Bern until his immediate resignation in 2018. His resignation was the result of a relationship with the theater's Head of Communications that was incompatible with the theater's governance.

It is important to people in Germany (91%) that cultural offerings in theaters are preserved for future generations. A large majority (76%) are also of the opinion that they should continue to be financed with public funds. The offerings are part of cultural identity (82%) and education (91%) in Germany. These are the findings of the new "Relevance Monitor Culture" conducted by the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Liz Mohn Center.

With the nationwide representative forsa survey, the Liz Mohn Center has for the first time investigated the importance of cultural offerings in Germany. The results show almost unanimous support among the population: the work of theaters is important, should be further promoted and preserved for the future.

Original article:
https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2023/mai/enormer-rueckhalt-fuer-kulturangebote-in-deutschland

The team that conducted the study analyzed more than 23,000 songs that appeared in the weekly UK top charts from 1953 to 2019. It found that energetic, danceable songs that evoked positive feelings such as joy and happiness were positively associated with warm, sunny weather and negatively associated with rainy, cold weather. Similarly, in terms of expected seasonal patterns, the popularity of energetic and positive music increased in summer and decreased in winter.

However, the results also show that these results depend on the popularity of the respective songs: While the weather mainly had an influence on the placement in the top 10 of the charts, there was hardly any correlation for less popular songs. This suggests that weather conditions can help a song to the top of the charts under certain circumstances.

Original article:
https://www.aesthetics.mpg.de/newsroom/news/news-artikel/article/here-comes-the-sun-de.html

Uri Smilansky was born and raised in Israel, where he studied violin, viola, composition, but above all recorder and viola da gamba. In 2001, he moved to Basel to study viola da gamba and baroque recorder at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he graduated with honors in 2006. He worked at the Schola as a project and teaching assistant and returned in 2015 to teach medieval aural training and ensemble work for a semester.

In 2010 he completed his doctorate on the music of the Ars Subtilior at the University of Exeter. This was followed by a postdoctoral position at Exeter on the edition of works by Guillaume de Machaut (2010-2014), a teaching position at Shakespeare's Globe (2015), a teaching fellowship at King's College London (2016-2019) and a second postgraduate research fellowship at the University of Oxford (2019-2022). Uri has published widely in academia and is a member of the board of the International Machaut Society.

In 2008 he co-founded a long-term teaching program at the Burgfürsteneck Academy for professional and musical-cultural further education, and since 2014 has been running shorter intensive courses as co-founder of Sherborne Early Music. He has performed and recorded a wide range of repertoire as a soloist and with groups such as Ensemble Leones, In Echo, the Taverner Consort and Players, Musicians of the Globe, La Morra, Earle his Viols, Perlaro, the Phoenix Ensemble and Dulce Melos. He is co-founder and director of the ensembles Le Basile and A Garden of Eloquence.

According to the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the new string converts vibrations directly into an electrical signal: The string becomes its own pickup and is a microphone for vibrations and touch along its entire length. A special functional layer made of a polymer with so-called piezoelectric properties is responsible for this. Piezoelectricity is a phenomenon in which electrical voltage is generated when the pressure on the material is changed. When the string is played, the oscillating change in vibration creates a mechanical tension that makes it possible to obtain a clear signal of the respective tone.

The characteristic sound colorations that were previously produced by the resonating body can now be simulated and added electronically. Both the sound body and the reverberation in the room can be changed digitally at any time. According to the university, this enables a wide range of design options that are predetermined and unchangeable with traditional instruments.

Original article:
https://www.uni-weimar.de/de/medieninformationen/titel/musikinstrumente-mit-neuartigen-saiten-funktionieren-ohne-resonanzkoerper-und-tonabnehmer/

Born in 1986, Manuel Troller is active as a guitarist and composer in various musical fields, according to the city's press release. He impresses as a musician with determination, clarity, precision and ease. With the internationally active formation "SchnellerTollerMeier", he has been playing uncompromising music between free improvisation, hardcore, modern composition and brute rock music since 2006, but is also at home in pop music.

By "exploring the limits of his instrument using preparations, extended techniques, sound alienation and a keen sense for the moment", he has become a sought-after guitarist in Switzerland. The list of collaborations, concerts and invitations to national and international festivals is long and testifies to his extraordinary and astute musical artistry. In 2021, Troller was awarded the Swiss Music Prize.

According to the festival's press release, the 52-year-old Nordmann has been Artistic Director of the Konzerthaus and Konzerthausorchester Berlin since 2009. Following a multi-stage application process, the musicologist with a doctorate was unanimously elected as the new artistic director by the Lucerne Festival Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the search committee.

Sebastian Nordmann was born in Kiel in 1971 and studied musicology and modern history in Heidelberg and Berlin. He worked for two years as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Berlin, and in 2002 he took over the artistic direction and management of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

In 2008, Nordmann was appointed Professor of Cultural Management at the Rostock University of Music and Drama. Since 2009, he has been the artistic director of the Konzerthaus and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin am Gendarmenmarkt. Sebastian Nordmann is married and has three children. As part of his new role, he will relocate from Berlin to the Lucerne region in due course.

Born in the USA, she is one of the world's most influential singers, having sold over 180 million records, but was also a successful actress. She became a Swiss citizen in 2013. In 2021, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern, according to the laudation for, among other things, "a unique musical and artistic life's work" and because she "successfully asserted herself as a woman in a previously male-dominated field".

Tina Turner gained her first singing experience in a Baptist church, from 1960 to 1976 she was a member of the duo Ike and Tina Turner, from the early 1980s she launched a successful international solo career as a singer, and later also as an actress. In Switzerland, she was also involved in the Beyond Foundation, a charitable foundation set up by Regula and Beat Curti in 2007, whose projects aim to "connect people around the world with the help of music".

Andreas Eduardo Frank, born in 1987, is a composer, performer, ensemble leader and festival organizer. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg and at the electronic studio of the Musikhochschule Basel. He works at various aesthetic interfaces, between real and virtual, music, performance, choreography, video and theater.

Andreas Eduardo Frank has received several awards for his work and is, for example, the winner of the 64th composition competition of the state capital Stuttgart. He has been artistic director of Ensemble Lemniscate Basel since 2018 and a member of the Rümlingen Festival program group since 2021.

Frank will manage Basel's Gare du Nord, a curated production and performance venue for the Swiss and international contemporary music scene, together with Johanna Schweizer (management) and Ursula Freiburghaus (collaborations).

The municipal council, the city's executive body, wants to further increase access to culture in all areas. With the first package of measures of the city-wide cultural strategy, fundamental prerequisites were created, which are sharpened and further developed in the present package of measures. Bern's culture should be "socially, economically and ecologically sustainable". During the pandemic, it has become abundantly clear that the social security of cultural workers must be improved, writes the Council.

The City of Bern's cultural strategy is designed to run for twelve years and shows how the city's cultural policy and cultural promotion will be shaped until 2028. Cultural production as the focal point of the city's cultural life is placed in a broader political and social context.

Part of the strategy is the newly conceived music ensemble sponsorship. Kultur Stadt Bern and the Office for Culture of the Canton of Berne jointly announce these, appoint a jury and decide on the award.

The package of measures:
Cultural_Strategy_City_of_Bern_Objectives_Measures_2023-2024_ES_medium.pdf

Dawidiuk played Beethoven's first piano concerto in Meiningen, where the competition was held, and conducted the orchestra at the same time. The special prizes, the Felix Draeseke Prize and the prize in cooperation with the Joachim Raff Society, enable him to give follow-up concerts. Aurel Dawidiuk is studying orchestral conducting with Christoph-Mathias Mueller and Johannes Schlaefli and piano with Till Fellner at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

The International Hans von Bülow Competition was held for the fourth time this year. In 2012, 2015 and 2018, it was organized by the International Hans von Bülow Society. Since 2021, the Max Reger Conservatory has been the organizer. Held in up to four rounds in the categories juniors, professionals and conducting from the piano, prize money totaling 50,000 euros, scholarships, CD recordings and follow-up concerts are awarded.

Vilem Vlcek has been studying at the Hochschule für Musik Basel in Danjulo Ishizaka's class since 2018. Alongside his studies, he has taken part in various masterclasses, including with Yo-Yo Ma, Frans Helmerson, Leonidas Kavakos, Steven Isserlis, Richard Aaron and Alisa Weilerstein.

Vilem is the winner of various national and international competitions, including the cello competition in Liezen (1st prize), Talents for Europe (1st prize), Heran Cello Competition (1st prize), Czech Conservatories Competition (winner), Concertino Praga (laureate and EMCY prize), Jan Vychytil Cello Competition (winner), Bohuslav Martinů Competition (1st prize) and currently in 2022 the 1st place of the Rahn Music Prize. As a member of the Kukal Quartet, he was awarded 3rd prize in the Prague Spring 2021 competition.

For the first time, contributions will be awarded for a four-year period. Between 2023 and 2027, the orchestras will receive contributions towards their artistic and administrative costs, which will enable them to implement six projects each for the benefit of a Basel audience and comply with the Swiss Musicians' Association's recommended tariffs. A total of eight instrumental ensembles and orchestras applied for program funding.

The following will now receive contributions: Basel Sinfonietta (CHF 4,044,600), Basel Chamber Orchestra (CHF 2,913,996), La Cetra Baroque Orchestra: (CHF 1,581,412), Ensemble Phoenix Basel (CHF 1,066,616) and the Klang Lab Ensemble (CHF 379,920). Camerata Variabile, which has received funding from the orchestra program funding since 2016, will receive a transitional funding contribution of CHF 60,480 for the last time for the 2023 to 2024 season. It no longer fully met the requirements of the call for proposals.

For the first time, two orchestras are being recognized for special achievements above and beyond the usual programming on the basis of the Ordinance on Programme and Structural Support for Orchestras, which came into force in 2022. The Basel Sinfonietta's grant includes funds of CHF 60,000 per year to support measures such as evening childcare, the promotion of young talent and children's concerts on a pro rata basis. The efforts of the Basel Chamber Orchestra to communicate music in a simple way and to design certain offers with a low threshold were also considered exceptional by the jury and are reflected in the funding contribution with CHF 40,000 per year.

The five independent jurors come from different areas of the concert industry: Beat Fehlmann, Director of the German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate, Ludwigshafen; Norbert Graf, music journalist and music producer at SRF 2 Kultur, Schüpfen; Rico Gubler, Head of the Music Department at Bern University of the Arts; Lisa Nolte, Artistic Director of the SONIC MATTER festival and online forum, Zurich; Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer, conductor, Zurich. The non-voting advisory board members were: Dominika Hens, Commissioner for Cultural Projects Basel-Stadt, and Katrin Grögel, Head of the Department of Culture Basel-Stadt.

The German GEMA (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte - Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights) has adopted several amendments to its rules and regulations at its General Assembly which affect various aspects of the online use of music. Against the backdrop of new general agreements, two motions dealt with the online offerings of broadcasting companies: To ensure that broadcasters can easily and legally access GEMA repertoire for productions for their increasingly relevant media libraries, the prerequisites have been created for granting production rights for this area from a single source in future.

At the same time, the General Assembly adopted rules for a separate distribution for media library usage. The distribution for social media platforms was fundamentally further developed so that the income that GEMA generates from YouTube and other platforms can be distributed even more usage-based in future. The General Assembly also set the course for cultural promotion with a special focus on the growing online sector.

The development of artificial intelligence was also hotly debated. GEMA is already using it in certain areas, such as the duplicate detection of setlists. The use of data to train the AI software is a major challenge. Ralf Weigand, Chairman of the GEMA Supervisory Board, emphasized that it must be clear whether a human or a machine has created content.

Original article:
https://www.gema.de/de/w/mitgliederversammlung-2023-gema-modernisiert-verteilung-im-wachstumsmarkt-online-und-setzt-zeichen-fur-kulturforderung-1

Baldur Brönnimann graduated from the Basel Music Academy and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He has worked as music director of the Colombian National Symphony Orchestra in Bogotá, as artistic director of "BIT20", one of Norway's most renowned contemporary music ensembles, and as chief conductor of the "Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música" in Portugal. He has also conducted other major orchestras, including in Seoul, Oslo, Bergen and Vienna. Since 2016 and until the end of the 2022/2023 season, he has been Principal Conductor of the Basel Sinfonietta, which he has led with tireless dedication and guided into a progressive organizational structure.

Jean-Paul Brodbeck was part of the Basel hip-hop group P-27 and worked for Seven and as a theater musician at the Zurich Schauspielhaus alongside Michael Neuenschwander and Mike Müller in Martin Suter's "Geri". From 1998 to 2004 he was a permanent member of the "Bait Jaffe Klezmer Orchestra", and from 2007 to 2010 part of the quartet around Wolfgang Muthspiel. He teaches at the Lucerne School of Music.

German scholar Barbara Piatti, who grew up in Duggingen and now lives with her family in Basel, has made a name for herself in the region over the years as a cultural mediator. In collaboration with her team and other experts, Piatti has been developing interdisciplinary cultural projects and publishing non-fiction books for years, each accompanied by a varied educational program.

Rebekka Salm grew up in Bubendorf and now lives in Olten. After completing an apprenticeship and working in a bank, she studied Islamic Studies and History in Basel and Bern. In addition to her work as a copywriter, adult educator in the field of migration, presenter and mother of a daughter, she also publishes columns and short stories. In 2019, she won the Swiss Writers' Trail writing competition and published her story in the book "Das Schaukelpferd in Bichsels Garten" in 2021.

The category prizes are endowed with CHF 20,000 each, the sponsorship prize with CHF 15,000. The next cultural award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.